gentlemen of Hampshire, at ten pound the
battle, and fifty pound the odd battle to show one-and-twenty cocks."

"And what will you do, Beatrix, to amuse our kinsman?" asks my lady.

"I'll listen to him," says Beatrix. "I am sure he has a hundred things
to tell us. And I'm jealous already of the Spanish ladies. Was that
a beautiful nun at Cadiz that you rescued from the soldiers? Your man
talked of it last night in the kitchen, and Mrs. Betty told me this
morning as she combed my hair. And he says you must be in love, for you
sat on deck all night, and scribbled verses all day in your tablebook."
Harry thought if he had wanted a subject for verses yesterday, to-day he
had found one: and not all the Lindamiras and Ardelias of the poets were
half so beautiful as this young creature; but he did not say so, though
some one did for him.

This was his dear lady, who, after the meal was over, and the young
people were gone, began talking of her children with Mr. Esmond, and of
the characters of one and the other, and of her hopes and fears for
both of them. "'Tis not while they are at home," she said, "and in their
mother's nest, I fear for them--'tis when they are gone into the world,
whither I shall not be able to follow them. Beatrix will begin her
service next year. You may have heard a rumor about--about my Lord
Blandford. They were both children; and it is but idle talk. I know my
kinswoman would never let him make such a poor marriage as our Beatrix
would be. There's scarce a princess in Europe that she thinks is good
enough for him or for her ambition."

"There's not a princess in Europe to compare with her," says Esmond.

"In beauty? No, perhaps not," answered my lady. "She is most beautiful,
isn't she? 'Tis not a mother's partiality that deceives me. I marked
you yesterday when she came down the stair: and read it in your face.
We look when you don't fancy us looking, and see better than you think,
dear Harry: and just now when they spoke about your poems--you writ
pretty lines when you were but a boy--you thought Beatrix was a pretty
subject for verse, did not you, Harry?" (The gentleman could only blush
for a reply.) "And so she is--nor are you the first her pretty face has
captivated. 'Tis quickly done. Such a pair of bright eyes as hers learn
their power very soon, and use it very early." And, looking at him
keenly with hers, the fair widow left him.

And so it is--a pair of bright eyes with a dozen glances s